Arigatou, Aniki
by alolha123
Summary: Premassacre. Eight year old Sasuke has hurt his ankle badly and Itachi is carrying him home. [Brotherly fic] [Oneshot]


Hi!

This is one of those brotherly love fics between Itachi and Sasuke. (Awwww...) Yeah, I know there are already a bunch out there, but I really like these fics. So I tried to write one on my own. Don't know if it's good or bad, because I can't judge my own work impartially, but if you drop a review by (cough) I'd really appreciate outside-source feedback.

Oh, sorry if I got Itachi's teammates mixed up. I wasn't sure who they were--I haven't found anything about them at all. Anyway, hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. (And probably never will.)

* * *

Uchiha Itachi was not, by any means, one of the weakest of the ANBU captains. He was the youngest, but in the ANBU, age did not matter in means of power. In fact, he was, perhaps, one of the most powerful of the ANBU. And not to mention the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, one of the most prostigeous of all of the clans. Itachi also didn't just hold a certain amount of esteem among his clan; many shinobi from all over the five great nations knew of and feared him. He was _the_ Uchiha Itachi. 

But to his eight-year old younger brother, Sasuke, he was aniki.

Itachi did not have many weaknesses in life; he had learned long ago that ANBU did not hold bonds, for someday they could, possibly, result in the failure of a mission. Itachi, trying to become the ideal ANBU, managed to break off all of these bonds--except for one.

Sasuke's bond.

And now, Itachi, the ANBU, was walking back to the Uchiha district with his little brother trailing, trying to keep up with his idol in spite of the limp on his right foot.

If there could be one flaw in the Uchiha clan, that would be pride. They always held their head high, even in defeat, but sometimes their pride skewered their view of family duties.

So was the case with Itachi. He was supposed to bring Sasuke back from the Academy, but he couldn't let the other ANBU captains see him with another his brother. They would never let him hear the end of it. Therefore, Itachi walked quickly on purpose, trying not to let others know of his aquaintance with the young boy behind him.

But Sasuke wasn't one to give up so easily. He finally managed to keep up with Itachi's long, equal strides. He flinched in pain from the injury dealt to his ankle. Finally, he could manage no longer.

"Aniki?"

"Hm?" Itachi stopped and looked back at Sasuke, who was grabbing at his ankle. His face was twisted with pain.

"Please?"

"Please what?"

Thirteen-year old Uchiha Itachi stared down at his little brother, Sasuke. The ANBU's face was impassive, though his tone clearly showed annoyance--but the eight-year old Sasuke seemed not to notice.

"Aniki, I hurt my ankle."

"And?"

The small boy stared up at Itachi with large, pleading eyes. "Please, aniki--carry me."

Itachi stared back at Sasuke with a slight trace of incredulity on his face. Carry? Carry--Sasuke--on his back? "Sasuke..." he began.

The eight-year old sniffed, tears welling up in his eyes.

Itachi bit his lip. He hated it when Sasuke did that.

A few moments passed, Sasuke attempting to soften his older brother with his tears and Itachi staring back with a blank expression.

But persistence won.

"...Fine." Itachi grumbled as Sasuke jumped onto his back with a shrill squeal of delight.

"Let's go, aniki!"

"Sure, whatever," muttered the trying-to-be-impassive ANBU.

* * *

It was a strange sight: _the_ ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi, fully dressed in ANBU garb, carrying an exuberant eight-year old on his back. 

Some of the older women passing by smiled at the sight, and aspiring ninjas-to-be stared in awe at the famous ANBU; but some of the ANBU passers snickered at Itachi.

The stoic Uchiha rolled his eyes in exasperation, but Sasuke had different ideas.

Grinning, he waved wildly back at the smirking ANBU. "Hiya!" he yelled, attracting the attention of everyone on the street.

Itachi cringed. _Stupid Sasuke..._

One of the ANBU (the only unmasked one) laughed outright. _What a contrast between brother and sibling. I've never seen Itachi even laugh, but the boy seems full of them._ He waved back. "Hi to you, too!" Grinning, he jogged up to Itachi. "Your little brother?" He asked of his peer.

"Yeah," Itachi averted his eyes, and the other thought he could see some traces of sulking, something he thought he'd never see. A voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Hi! My name's Sasuke, and Itachi is my nii-san. What's your name?"

"Rasu. I'm on your nii-san's team." the red-haired ANBU grinned back. _Sheesh, the kid's smiles are contagious._

The other two ANBU also walked up to Itachi and Sasuke. Both lifted up their wooden masks, causing them to look more humane than before.

"I'm Seyin," the serious-looking blonde said. Sasuke was slightly fidgety around him. _He looks like aniki when he's in a bad mood. I wonder if he's in a bad mood right now._

"And I'm Yuikko," the female brunette smiled at Sasuke, and the eight-year old smiled back. _I like her better than Seyin. He's sulky today._

"I've heard Itachi speak about you three!" Sasuke giggled. "Especially you, Yuikko," he added slyly as Itachi began to turn a furious shade of red.

Itachi's teammates began to laugh, which did not at all help Itachi to cool down. Especially when Rasu was turning red from laughter and Seyin was smirking at him. And Yuikko was batting her eyelashes mockingly at him.

_Stupid Sasuke..._

"Let's go," Itachi tried to keep a stoic gaze, which, for once in his life, he failing miserably at.

"See ya!" Sasuke waved at the still-laughing ANBU as Itachi began to walk towards home again.

* * *

Once they were out of the earshot of the ANBU, Itachi looked up at his grinning brother. "Why did you have to tell them that, Sasuke?" he hissed. 

Sasuke giggled. "Come on, aniki! It was funny!"

"Not for me..." Itachi muttered, glaring at Sasuke. "I'll get you back-"

"Oh, look! There's Kaa-san!" Sasuke intentionally ignored his brother's threat.

"Hello Itachi, Sasuke," Uchiha Mikoto greeted her sons, the prides of her life.

Itachi merely grunted in greeting, but Sasuke waved wildly, grinning from ear to ear.

Mikoto smiled, though somewhat sadly. Sasuke was as excitable as ever, but Itachi hardly acknowledged her. He had been doing that for the last few months. _Why?_ But she shrugged it off. _It must be the ANBU work,_ she reasoned.

Itachi and Sasuke walked inside and Mikoto closed the door behind them. "I need to make dinner, so you two wash up, okay?"

Itachi, once again, hardly gave an answer, but Sasuke bobbed his head up and down in excitement.

Once Mikoto had left, Itachi turned to leave the room, only to feel a tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see Sasuke.

"Yeah? What is it, Sasuke?"

The eight-year old smiled. "Arigatou, Aniki."

* * *

Meh...oh well. I tried. Anyway, please R&R... Oh yeah, if you have something bad to say about this, please say so in a _constructive_ way. Thanks! 

alolha123


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